What to Feed a Lizard From Outside? Usually, Let It Go

A garden lizard you have caught needs live insects, not lettuce — and almost certainly needs releasing. What to offer if you are keeping it briefly.

By Zakaria September 22, 2026 3 min read Save to Pinterest

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A common wall lizard on a rough stone block beside dark green foliage — Photo: Joerg Hartmann, Pexels License, via Pexels

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Live insects — and the more useful answer is that the lizard should almost certainly go back where it came from.

The short answer

Garden lizards are insectivores that hunt moving prey: crickets, small roaches, mealworms, spiders, soft caterpillars and small worms. They will not eat vegetables, fruit or pet food, and generally ignore anything that does not move. But keeping a wild-caught lizard is illegal in many places and goes badly almost everywhere — they are stressed by handling, refuse food, and need a heat gradient and UVB that an improvised tank cannot give. If you are holding one overnight: a ventilated box, a hide, shallow water, a warm end and a cool end, out of the sun, released the next morning at the exact spot.

Live insects only. Crickets, mealworms, spiders, small worms
No vegetables, fruit, bread or pet food. They will not eat it
Keeping one is illegal in many places and rarely goes well
Refusing food usually means too cold, or too stressed
Release at the exact spot it was found

What they eat

Offered to a small garden lizard

	Taken	Notes
Crickets, small roaches	Readily	The staple
Mealworms	Yes	Hard-shelled; not a sole diet
Waxworms	Yes	Very fatty — a treat only
Spiders, soft caterpillars, small worms	Yes	What they catch anyway
Ants	Mostly avoided	Formic acid; some species specialise
Lettuce, fruit, bread, cat food	No	Does not move, so it does not register

Movement is the trigger. Most small lizards hunt by sight and strike at motion, which is why a dish of chopped anything sits untouched. There are herbivorous lizards, but they are large tropical species, not what turns up under a paving slab.

Why it should probably go back

Wild reptiles are protected in many places

Collecting one from the wild is an offence in much of the world, under state or national law. Worth checking before anything else.

Even where it is legal, it usually goes badly:

Stress. Handling and a strange enclosure both suppress feeding
Food refusal is the norm for wild-caught animals, not the exception
Parasites are common in wild reptiles and go untreated
Heat, UVB and humidity are species-specific, and getting them wrong causes metabolic bone disease within weeks
It has a territory it knows, with cover and food it has already found

If you are holding one overnight

A ventilated container with a secure lid
Somewhere to hide — a bit of bark, a folded leaf, kitchen paper. Cover reduces stress more than anything else
A warm end and a cool end. Heat at one side only, so it can choose. Never heat the whole container
Out of direct sun. A closed container in sunlight kills a small reptile in minutes
Shallow water, plus a light mist on the sides — many lizards drink droplets rather than from a dish
A few live insects, and do not worry if they are ignored
Release the next morning, at the exact spot

The better version of this question

If you like having lizards around, make the garden hold them:

Flat stones and a south-facing wall for basking
Log piles, rockeries and dense low planting for cover and hibernation
A shallow water source
No pesticides — spraying removes their food supply directly

A garden with resident lizards has fewer insect problems and is far more interesting than a box with one stressed animal in it.

Our picks

#	Pick	Best for	Where to buy
1	Live crickets or dubia roaches	What a wild-caught lizard will actually eat	Check price for Live crickets or dubia roaches →
2	Calcium with D3 dusting powder	What prevents metabolic bone disease	Check price for Calcium with D3 dusting powder →
3	Shallow water dish and a mister	Most wild lizards will not drink from a bowl	Check price for Shallow water dish and a mister →

What a wild-caught lizard will actually eat

Live crickets or dubia roaches

A lizard that will not eat is almost always being offered the wrong size or dead prey. Head width is the rule that solves most refusals.

Size: No wider than the lizard's head
Frequency: Daily for juveniles

What we liked

Movement is what triggers feeding; most wild lizards ignore dead prey
Dubia roaches are quieter, longer-lived and more nutritious than crickets

Worth knowing

Crickets are noisy and die fast
Feeding live insects is a commitment, not a one-off

Check current price

What prevents metabolic bone disease

Calcium with D3 dusting powder

If a wild lizard is kept indoors for more than a few days, this is the one thing not to skip — the deficiency develops faster than people expect.

Use: Dust insects before feeding
Frequency: Most feedings for a juvenile

What we liked

Insects alone are badly calcium-deficient, which is the commonest cause of death indoors
A single tub lasts months

Worth knowing

D3 is only needed without UVB; over-supplementing has its own risks

Check current price

Most wild lizards will not drink from a bowl

Shallow water dish and a mister

Dehydration is misdiagnosed as not eating. Mist first, and watch whether it drinks from the leaves.

Why: Many species drink droplets, not standing water

What we liked

Misting foliage is how most garden species actually take water
A shallow dish prevents drowning in small species

Worth knowing

Needs doing daily

Check current price

Common questions

What do you feed a lizard from outside?

Live insects, and nothing else. Nearly every small garden lizard — skinks, anoles, fence lizards, geckos, common lizards — is an insectivore that hunts moving prey: crickets, small roaches, mealworms, waxworms as a treat, spiders, soft-bodied caterpillars and small earthworms. They generally ignore anything that does not move, so vegetables, fruit, bread and pet food are refused and will not sustain them.

Can I keep a lizard I caught in the garden?

In most cases you should not, and in many places it is illegal — wild reptiles are protected under state or national law in much of the world, and collecting one can be an offence. Beyond the law, wild-caught lizards do badly in captivity: they are stressed by handling, frequently refuse food, carry parasites, and need specific heat, UVB and humidity that a tank improvised overnight will not provide. Releasing it exactly where it was found is almost always the right call.

How do I keep a lizard alive overnight?

A ventilated container with a hide, a shallow dish of water, a few live insects, and a warm end that lets it choose its own temperature — a heat source at one end and none at the other, never a tank heated throughout. Keep it out of direct sun, which cooks a small animal in a closed container within minutes. Then release it the next morning at the exact spot it came from.

Do lizards drink water?

Yes, though many do not use a dish. A great many small lizards drink droplets from leaves and surfaces rather than standing water, so a light misting of the enclosure sides gives a lizard water it will actually recognise. Offer both — a shallow dish and a misted surface — and never anything deep enough for a small lizard to be trapped in.

Why does the lizard I caught refuse to eat?

Almost always stress or temperature. A reptile that is too cool cannot digest and will not eat, which is why a thermal gradient matters more than food does in the first days. Add handling, a strange enclosure, no cover to hide in, and the answer is usually to stop trying to feed it and release it instead. A wild lizard refusing food for more than a day or two in captivity is telling you something clear.

How do I get more lizards in my garden instead?

Give them cover, warmth and insects. Flat stones and a south-facing wall for basking, log piles, rockeries and dense low planting for shelter, a shallow water source, and no pesticides — spraying removes the food supply directly. Lizards are excellent garden residents that eat large numbers of insects, and encouraging them is far more rewarding than catching one.

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A brown anole lizard resting on a garden marker among leaf litter

Backyard Animals · Sep 6, 2026

What to Feed a Lizard From Outside? Usually, Let It Go

What they eat

Why it should probably go back

If you are holding one overnight

The better version of this question